How to freeze a pumkin pie

pumkin pie
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

How to Freeze a Pumpkin Pie

Make your favorite pie crust.

Mix up pumpkin pie filling according to the directions on the can. Add two tablespoons corn starch to the pumpkin pie filling. Mix thoroughly.

Corn starch stabilizes the custard (pumpkin pie filling) for freezing. Adding corn starch makes the pie not runny when you unthaw it.

Pour filling into pie shell. Bake pie following the directions on the can. After baking cool the pie. When the pie is cool, wrap it up for freezing. Freeze pie. Unthaw pie in the refrigerator.

tuna cobbler

tuna cobler
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

Filling
One can of Tuna
¼ cup butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoon flour
¾ chicken or vegetable broth
¾ cup milk
2 tablespoons Dijon style mustard
pepper to taste
1 cup Frozen peas and Carrots
1 cup frozen corn

Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking pan or casserole.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Melt butter in pan, add garlic. Cook until brown. Add Flour, Stirring. Combine milk, broth and mustard. Warm in microwave. Slowly add broth mixture stirring into flour mixture. Whisk until thicken. Microwave peas and carrots according package directions. Drain peas and carrots. Add drained tuna and peas and carrots. Stir until combined. Pour into baking dish, Set aside.

Cobbler Crust
1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup milk

In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. Add melted butter then milk. Stir until stiff dough forms. Spoon crust over filling. Bake in 425 oven for about 20 –25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Barley and Bulgur in White Sauce

Barley and Bulgur in White Sauce
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

Barley and Bulgur in White Sauce

Optional 1 cup chopped leftover meats: beef, chicken turkey and ham

Sauce
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup broth: vegetable, chicken or beef
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon white pepper

2 or 3 diced mushrooms
¼ onion diced

¼ cup Barley
¼ cup Bulgur


First make the sauce by melting the butter in a sauce pan. Then add the diced onion and mushrooms. Stirring until golden brown. Add flour and seasonings stirring well. Add broth and milk, stirring until thick. Add barley and bulgur, stirring well. Last if you want to add cooked meat, stir it into the pot.

Next simmer on the stove about 1 ½ hours. Add water if it gets too thick.

The dish is finished when the barley and bulgur are soft enough to eat.

Or finish cooking the dish by placing it in a small crock pot and cooking for three to fours hours. This is how I make my lunch putting the dish in a crock pot at breakfast time.

I serve the thick sauce over mashed potatoes. Whole wheat bread works well too.

The recipe originally Called Skillet Dinner came from the Whole Foods For the Whole Family cook book published by La Leche League International 1981.

acorn squash

acorn squash
Originally uploaded by Mary Anne Thygesen

Squash and Apple Bake

1 Acorn squash cut in half with seeds scooped out
1 large apple, peeled and sliced
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup melted butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Heat oven to 350 F. Spray a baking dish, that is big enough to hold the squash, with spray oil. Toast pecans. Prepare Squash and apple. Mix melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small mixing bowl. Add toasted chopped pecans into the mixture. Place cut up squash in baking dish skin side down. Place apple slices in the hollowed out bowl left in the squash when the seeds were scooped out. Top with pecan mixture. Place in oven and bake for one hour at 350 F. Remove from oven and enjoy.

To toast nuts: For one cup of nuts use a 10 inch dry skillet on medium high heat. For more than one cup of nuts spread them out on an ungreased baking dish and toast in a 350F oven. Toast of 3 to 5 minutes. Remember to stir the nuts often so that they do not burn.